The Honorable Alternative To Euthanasia

I posted this when it was published a few weeks ago. It came across my screen again today and I thought it was worth a repost. Here’s a doctor who specializes in palliative care (care/pain management of the terminally ill) who finds herself terminally ill. It’s an eloquent story of dignity, self-respect, and care.

Helping Patients Face Death, She Fought to Live

By the time she was 38, Dr. Desiree Pardi had become a leading practitioner in palliative care, one of the fastest-growing fields in medicine, counseling terminally ill patients on their choices.

She preached the gentle gospel of her profession, persuading patients to confront their illnesses and get their affairs in order and, above all, ensuring that their last weeks were not spent in unbearable pain. She was convinced that her own experience as a cancer survivor — the disease was first diagnosed when she was 31 — made her perfect for the job.

In 2008, while on vacation in Boston, she went to an emergency room with a fever. The next day, as the doctors began to understand the extent of her underlying cancer, “they asked me if I wanted palliative care to come and see me.” more